Drug design strategies begin by determining the simplest ligand necessary to activate a receptor of interest. The Toll-Like Receptor-5 (TLR-5) is an attractive target for pharmaceutical modulation because it initiates an ...

The Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) is a central transcription factor downstream of IL-6/gp130 signaling. This thesis investigates how STAT3 regulates IL-6 signal transduction by interacting with ...

This dissertation focuses on the issue of direct-to-consumer (DTC) television advertising for prescription drugs. First, it explores the terms and categories currently used to understand and debate this issue. Then, it ...

Rev is a key HIV-1 virus regulatory protein, which exports the unspliced and partially\r\nspliced viral mRNA out of the nucleus, thereby inducing the switch from the early phase\r\nto the late phase of the viral replication ...

The sodium/dicarboxylate cotransporter (NaDC1) is found on the apical membrane of the kidney proximal tubule and the small intestine. It carries various di- and tri- carboxylates such as succinate, á-ketoglutarate and ...

Synaptotagmin I is the most abundant Ca+2 binding protein present on synaptic vesicles accounting for 7% of total vesicle protein and is widely accepted as the Ca2+ sensor in fast synchronous neurotransmitter release. The ...

Flaviviruses pose a global threat to human health and the development of a broad spectrum drug would decrease the disease burden. The small molecule, 1,8-dinitro-4,5-dihydroxyanthraquinone has shown to bind the proteases ...

The knowledge of stress proteins is important for understanding stress response, pathology of a broad set of diseases, and the development of therapeutics. The Escherichia coli YedU stress protein, also known as Hsp31, ...

Kainate receptor antagonists show efficacy in multiple animal models of neuropathologies, including pain and epilepsy. These receptors are selectively targeted by a number of natural and synthetic ligands. The goals of ...

Dengue is the most significant arboviral disease affecting humans and therefore it is essential to produce effective countermeasures against this disease in the form of vaccines and antiviral drugs. Neutralizing antibodies ...

RNA structural elements play critical roles in several viral processes. An \r\nattempt to elucidate the role of one such RNA structural element encoded by the 5’ \r\nUntranslated Region (5’UTR), in regulating virus replication ...

Abstract: Apoptosis, programmed cell death, is a tightly regulated process that occurs in development, in tissue maintenance and turnover, and in regulating the immune system. Alterations in apoptosis regulation is known ...

Transport of dicarboxylates across the plasma membrane is mediated by the Na+/dicarboxylate cotransporters (NaDCs) belonging to the SLC13 gene family. These transporters play important roles in the homeostasis of ...

Childhood and adolescent obesity has developed into a major public health concern in the United States. The overweight and obesity rates of our children continue to rise and have been increasing dramatically for over 40 ...

Dengue viruses (DENV) are the most important arboviral pathogens in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world. Transmission includes a sylvatic, enzootic cycle between nonhuman primates and arboreal mosquitoes ...

Taser® devices are used by many police forces as a nonlethal means of subduing individuals. These devices use conducted electrical energy to cause neuromuscular incapacitation. Tasers have been associated with adverse ...

The central pathological finding in neurodegenerative disease is loss of neurons. In many disorders, this loss of neurons appears to be related to protein misfolding, comprising a large public health burden. For example, ...

Modern techniques in structural biology, like homology modeling, protein threading, protein fold classification, and homology detection have proven extremely useful. For example, they have provided us with evolutionary ...